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CIHM/ICMH 
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1 

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It  -— 


PAUL   REVERE'S    SIGNAL 


THE    TRUE   STORY  OF   THE   SIGNAL   LANTERNS 
IN  CHRIST  CHURCH,  BOSTON 


BY 


Thk  Rev.  JOHN    LEE   WATSON,  D.D. 


With   Remarks  on  Lav.no  Dr.  Watson's   Communication   be.oke   xhk 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  Nov.  9,  1876 


By   CHARLES    DEANE 


X — 


liiSSiia'. 


'-*-''-'- 


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■■p 


'»s 


PAUL   EEVERE'S    SIGNAL 


TUB  TRUE  STORY  OF  THE  SIGNAL  LANTERNS 
IN  CHRIST  CHURCH,  BOSTON 


BY 


The  Rev.  JOHN  LEE  WATSON,  D.D. 


With  Remarks  on  Latixq  Dr.  Watson's  Communication  befobe  the 

MASSACHUSBTi.'S  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY,  Nov.  9,   1876 

Br   CHARLES    DEANE 


9j«iO 


CAMBRIDGE 
PRESS    OF   JOHN   WDLSON   AND    SON 

1877 


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|0) 


PAUL  REYERE'S   SIGNAL. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  on 
the  9th  of  November,  1876,  Mr.  Chaeles  Deane  made  the 
following  communication  :  — 

Mr.  Deane  said  that  some  of  the  members  of  the  Society- 
would  remember  an  interesting  communication  which  ap- 
peared some  months  ago  (July  20)  in  the  "  Boston  Daily 
Advertiser,"  entitled  "  Paul  Revere's  Signal :  The  true  story 
of  .the  signal  lanterns  in  Christ  Church,  Boston."  It  was 
written  by  the  Reverend  John  Lee  Watson,  D.D.,  formerly 
of  Trinity  Church  in  this  city,  and  now  residing  in  Oi.mge, 
New  Jersey ;  and  took  the  ground  that  the  person  who 
hung  out  or  displayed  the  lanterns  on  Christ  Church  steeple, 
on  the  night  of  the  18th  of  April,  1775,  was  not  Robert 
Newman,  the  sexton  of  the  church,  but  John  Pulling,  a 
friend  of  Paul  Revere.  Dr.  Watson's  statement  seemed  to 
be  conclusive,  and  to  be  fully  concurred  in  by  our  historical 
friends.  Mr.  Deane  said  that  Dr.  Watson  had  sent  to  him  a 
slip  from  the  "  Advertiser  "  containing  his  article,  with  some 
corrections  and  additions  ;  and  he  now  communicated  it  to  the 
Society,  believing  that  it  would  find  an  appropriate  place  in 
our  Proceedings. 

PAUL  BEVERE's  signal  :  THE  TRUE  STORY  OF  THE  "  SIGNAL  LAN- 


TERNS 


IN    CHRIST    CHURCH,   BOSTON. 


To  the  Editors  of  the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser :  — 

It  will  be  remembered  by  many  persons  in  Boston,  that,  last  year, 
in  the  Centennial  celebration  of  the  events  of  the  night  of  April  18, 
1775.  it  was  stated  by  my  friend,  the  esteemed  Rector  of  Cln ist  Church, 
Boston,  that  the  signal  lanterns  which  directed  the  movements  of  Paul 
Revere  on  that  night  were  "  hung  out  on  the  steeple  of  the  Old  North 
Church  "  by  one  Robert  Newman,  who,  it  was  said,  was  then  the  sex- 
ton of  that  church.  Knowing  that  this  statement  could  not  be  correct, 
and  having  my  attention  called  to  the  matter  by  a  kinswoman  of  mine, 
who  furnished  me  with  additional  reasons  for  believing  that  the  honor 


of  aiding  Paul  Revere  on  that  "  night  much  to  be  remembend  "  be- 
longed rightfully  to  a  member  of  our  own  family,  I  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  reverend  Rector,  asking  for  the  authority  on  which  he  had  made 
such  a  statement.  In  his  very  kind  reply  to  my  inquiry,  he  told  me 
that  he  "  had  received  his  information  from  Mr.  S.  H.  Newman,  son  of 
the  sexton,  Robert  Newman  " ;  and  that  his  story  was  supported  by 
the  remembrances  of,  Ist,  an  elderly  woman,  "Mrs.  Sally  Chittenden, 
now  ninety  years  of  age,  who  is  the  grand-daughter  of  John  Newman, 
brother  of  Robert " ;  2d, "  of  Joshua  B.  Fowle,  living  at  Lexington,  who 
knew  Paul  Revere,  who  often  came  with  the  other  patriots  of  his  time 
to  his  father's  house.  It  was  the  common  talk  among  them  that  Rob- 
ert Newman  put  up  the  lanterns."  3d,  '•  William  Green,  who  lives  at 
the  North  End,  is  the  grandson  of  Captain  Thomas  Barnard.  His  sis- 
ter, eighty-four  years  old,  remembers  Robert  Newman."  "  All  these 
Bay  it  was  the  universally  received  opinion  that  Robert  Newman  dis- 
played the  signal  lights." 

This  is  all,  and  1  have  no  occasion  to  make  any  remark  upon  their 
evidence. 

The  reverend  Rector  also  writes  that  "  the  sexton  was  arrested,  but 
nothing  was  proved  against  him.  After  giving  the  signal,  he  made  his 
way  out  of  a  b.!ck  window  of  the  church  into  his  house,  and  was  found 
in  bed."  And  he  adds  :  "  Our  records  —  that  is,  the  records  of  Christ 
Church  —  fail  us  in  the  Revolutionary  period,  and  say  nothing  about 
the  signal  lanterns." 

Now,  I  have  a  story  to  tell,  which,  I  think,  will  give  a  different 
aspect  to  this  matter ;  and  I  claim  "  the  honor  of  raising  the  signal 
lanterns  "  for  Captain  John  Pulling,  of  whom  I  will  relate  all  that  may 
be  necessary  to  substantiate  his  claim. 

John  Pulling,  Jr.,  son  of  John  and  Martha  Pulling,  was  born  in 
Boston,  February  18, 1737,  and  was  brought  up  in  Christ  Church,  where 
his  father  was  a  warden  in  1752-  '3,  and  a  vestryman  several  years 
subsequently.  He  received  his  education  in  the  town  schools  of  that  day, 
and  before  the  period  of  the  Revolution  was  established  as  a  merchant,  in 
extensive  business.  Pie  married,  first,  Annis  Lee,  daughter  of  Colonel 
John  Lee  of  Manchester,  Mass.,  a  well-known  patriot  of  that  day, 
and  by  that  marriage  was  connected  with  Jeremiah  Lee  of  Marblehead, 
"  who,"  says  a  journal  of  those  times,  "  was  one  of  the  most  eminent 
merchants  on  the  Continent ;  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety, 
and  a  resolute  asserter  and  defender  of  the  liberties  of  his  country." 
Mr.  Pulling  was  also  the  brother-in-law  of  John  Glover,  and  Joshua 
and  Azor  Orue  of  Marblehead,  of  William  Raymond  Lee  and  Marston 
Watson,  all  officers  of  the  Revolutionary  army.  I  find  also  in  the 
"  Records  of  the  Boston  Committee  of  Correspondence,  Inspection,  and 
Safety,"  recently  published  for  the  first  time,*  that  he  and  Paul  Revere 
are  mentioned  together  as  "  Captain  John  Pulling  and  Major  Paul 
Revere,"  and  as  chosen  members  of  that  committee ;  and  from  the 
titles  given  them  it  may  of  course  be  inferred  that  they  both  held  com- 


*  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical  Register,  vol.  xxx.  p.  882. 


missions  in  the  Continental  service.  It  is  also  recorded,  tliat "  at  a  meet- 
in;?  of  the  freeholders  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Boston,  in 
public  town  meeting  assembled,  at  the  Old  Brick  Mecting-liouse,"  &c.,  it 
was  "  voted  that  Captain  John  Pulling.  IMiijor  Paul  Kcsvere,"  and  others, 
*'  be  appointed  a  sub-committee  to  collect  the  names  of  all  persons  who 
liave  in  any  way  acted  against  or  opposed  the  ri;.'hts  atid  liberties  of 
this  country,"  &c..  They  were  botii  also  the  associates  of  Hancock, 
Warren,  Adams,  and  other  leading  patriots  ;  and  most  not(!VVorthy  is  it 
that  Paul  Revere  and  John  Pidling,  intimate  friends  fiom  boyhood, 
always  acted  together.  These  particulars  are  sufficient  indications  of 
the  character  and  standing  of  John  Pulling,  and  the  estimation  iu  which 
he  was  held  bv  the  "  men  of  the  Revolution." 

His  first  wife,  Annis  Lee,  died  August  11,  1771,  leaving  a  son  and 
a  daughter;  and  in  January,  1773,  he  married  Mrs.  Sarali  (Thaxter) 
McBean,  the  widow  of  Major  Duncan  McHean,  by  which  marriage  he 
ac(piired  a  large  property  in  the  West  Indies. 

The  following  is  Paul  Revere's  narrative  of  the  events  of  the  night 
of  the  18th  of  April,  177.")  :  "On  Tuesday  evening,  it  was  observed 
that  a  mimber  of  soldiers  were  marching  toward  Boston  Common. 
About  ten  o'clock.  Dr.  Warren  sent,  in  great  haste,  for  me,  and  begged 
that  I  would  immediately  set  oft'  for  Lexington,  where  were  Hancock 
and  Adams,  and  acquaint  tliem  of  the  movements,  and  that  it  was 
thought  they  were  the  objects.  On  the  Sunday  before,  I  agreed  with 
a  Colonel  Conant,  and  some  other  gentlemen,"  —  in  Charlestown,  — 
"  that,  if  the  British  went  out  by  water,  we  should  show  two  lancerns  in 
the  North  Church  steeple,  and  if  by  land,  one,  as  a  signal ;  for  we 
were  apprehensive  it  would  be  difficidt  to  cross  over  Charies  River. 
I  left  Dr.  Warren,  called  npou  a  friend  and  desired  him  to  make  the 
signal.  I  then  went  home,*  took  my  boots  and  surtout,  went  to  the 
north  part  of  the  town,  where  I  had  kept  a  boat.  Two  friends  rowed 
me  across  Charles  River,  a  little  to  the  eastward  where  the  '  Somerset ' 
lay.  It  was  then  young  flood ;  the  ship  was  winding,  and  the  moon 
was  rising.  They  landed  me  on  the  Charlestown  side.  When  I  got 
into  town,  I  met  Colonel  Conant  and  several  others.  They  said  they 
had  seen  our  signals."  t 

Here,  then,  we  trace  the  course  of  the  movements  on  that  eventful 
night.  At  ten  o'clock,  Paul  Revere  was  sent  for  by  Dr.  Warren,  who 
informed  him  of  the  intended  march  of  the  British  to  Lexington  and 
Concord,  and  begged  him  to  proceed  immediately  to  Lexington  and 
acquaint  Hancock  and  Adams  of  the  movement.  He  left  Dr.  War- 
ren's residence  in  Hanover  Street,t  and  then  culled  upon  a  friend,  -r  his 
most  intimate  friend,  John  Pulling,  —  and  desired  him  to  make  the  sig- 
nals. This,  of  course,  was  the  most  critical  and  hazardous  part  of  the 
whole  enterprise.     It  was  full  of  difficulty  and  danger,  and  required  of 


*  lie  lived  at  that  time  in  "  North  Square." 

t  Paul  Kevere's  Narrative,  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  vol.  v.,  1st 
Series. 

I  On  the  site  of  the  present  American  House. 


■"  ~i 

■■'     :i 

I--— < 

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any  one  who  slioiiM  undcrtiike  it  the  union  of  discretion  nnd  jud^'n'^ot? 
with  !i  (hf^rcci  of  couram'  jind  (iiiniK'ss  which  coidd  contrin|)liite  ccr- 
tiiin  death  as  the  oidy  altcrnativi'  <»f  Kucct'ss.  'llw.  hoUWc.vh  were,  in 
tho  streets,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  church ;  nud  not  only  was 
there  tlie  risk  of  tlu;  ii^jlit  hcinj^  ohsci-vcul  in  tliat  (juartcr,  l)ut  also,  as 
I'uHiiij;  said,  "he  was  afraid  that  soiuci  old  woman  would  see  the  light 
and  scream  fire." 

No  one  who  knows  any  tiling  of  Paul  Revere  will  for  a  moment  sup- 
pose, that,  having  heen  intrusted  with  an  important  duty,  Iw.  would 
liave  commift<!d  this  most  perilous  part  of  it  to  any  one  hut  w  friend  in 
whoso  prudence  or  courage  he  could  confide  for  life  or  death.  Such  a 
man  was  John  Pulling:  he  luid  heen,  from  l)oyhood,  his  most  intimate 
friend;  he  had  sliared  with  him  in  the  hopes  and  fears  and  dtiep  anxie- 
ties of  \V^arren  and  Hancock  and  Adams,  and  heen  acquainted  with  llieir 
most  s<!cret  plans  for  alarming  i\w  people  about  the  intiMitions  of  (Jen- 
eral  (iage.  He,  then,  it  was  who  was  "  calhid  upon  "  hy  his  fritiiid 
Paul  Revere,  aii<l  "  desired  to  make  the  signals  "  which  hud  been  agreed 
upon  between  them. 

As  soon  as  he  received  his  notice,  he  \?K  his  house,*  and,  watching 
his  time,  went  over  to  the  sexton's  in  the  same  street,  and  asked  for  '.he 
keysb  of  the  church,  which,  as  he  was  a  vestryman,  the  sexton  could  not 
refUse  to  give  him.  He  then  went  into  tlie  church,  locking  himself 
in  ;  and,  clind)ing  to  the  upper  window  of  the  steeple,  he  there  waited 
for  a  favoral»le  moment,  and  then  hung  out  the  signal  of  two  Ian- 
terns,  as  had  been  agreed  upon,  by  which  those  on  the  other  side 
would  '  know  that  the  liritish  were  going  by  water."  In  the  mean 
time,  Paul  Revere  had  been  "rowed  by  his  friends  a  little  to  the  east- 
ward  of  where  the  'Somerset'  lay,"  to  avoid  detection  by  those  on 
board;  and.  landing  on  the  opposite  shore,  "  had  joined  Colonel  Conant 
and  others"  in  Charlestown,  who  told  him  "they  had  seen  the  signals." 
Finding,  also,  that  they  had  provided  him  with  a  horse,  "  he  springs  to 
the  saddle,"  and  starts  at  once  on  that  "  midnight  ride  "  which  the 
words  of  the  poet  have  made  famous. 

..."  And  tliroiifili  the  jrloom  mid  tlie  light, 
Tlie  fate  of  a  nation  was  riding  that  night." 

When  it  was  discovered  by  the  British  authorities  that  the  signals 
had  been  made  from  Christ  Church,  "  a  search  was  immediately  set 
afoot  for  the  reh^l  who  made  them."  The  sexton  of  the  church  was 
suspected  and  arrested.  He  protested  his  innocence  ;  and,  when  ques- 
tioned, declared  that  "  the  keys  of  the  church  were  demanded  of  him 
at  a  late  hour  of  the  night  by  Mr.  Pulling,  who,  being  a  vestryman,  he 
thought  had  a  right  to  them  ;  and,  after  ne  had  given  them  up,  he  had 
gone  to  bed  again,  and  that  was  all  he  knew  about  it."  This  answer 
was  sufficient  to  procure  his  release,  and  turn  the  search  towards  Mr. 
Pulling. 

In  the  mean  time,  a  INIrs.  Malcolm,  a  Scotch  woman,  and  v»ife  of 


*  In  Salem  Street. 


Is 


r 


a  near  neighbor  of  Mr.  Pulling,  —  who  wus  unrlor  ohligatinufi  to  him 
for  Honio  Korvico  lio  liiid  n!ii(h'iT(l  him,  —  nuno  to  him  wilii  a  mos- 
siigo  from  her  hushaiid,  "  that  lie  iiad  hotter  leave  the  town  as  soon  as 
possihle,  witli  his  family."  And  this  he  diil,  disguised  na  a  lahorer,  on 
board  of  a  small  eraft  loaded  with  beer  for  ihe  man-of-war  lying  in 
the  harbor,  in  sonu;  way,  one  of  the  saiKjrs  belonging  to  the  eraft 
hud  known  Mr.  I'ulling,  and  to  him  ho  eonfided  his  wish  to  esejipe 
from  Boston  with  his  family.  TIk,"  sailor  said,  "  if  the  ski|»|)er  of  tlie 
craft  sliould  be  on  board,  he  wonld  not  allow  of  any  del.ay  ;  l)Ut  if  the 
mate,  who  was  a  good-natured  fellow,  should  have  the  coimnand,  ho 
would  be  willitig  to  i)ut  him  ashore;  on  his  return."  This  proved  to  bo 
the  case,  and  Mr.  I'ulling  and  his  fjimily  were;  landed  at  Nantasket. 
How  long  ho  remained  ihere  is  not  known, —  probably  not  long  ;  but 
his  wife  and  family  contimied  to  live  there  for  some  time,  sulfering 
from  want  of  all  tiie  necessaries  of  lif(!  ;  for  they  had  carried  nothing 
with  them,  —  eveiy  thing  had  been  WSt  behind.  And  when  Mr.  Pul- 
ling returned  to  Boston,  —  after  tl  v  siego  was  raised,  —  he  found  his 
dwelling-house  and  stores  and  ai)uudant  m<*ans  all  so  injured  or  de- 
stroyed, .that  at  the  end  of  tlie  war  all  his  property  was  gone.  Ho 
died  soon  .after,  and  the  family  at  onco  removed  to  llingham,  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Such  is  the  true  story  of  the  "signal-lanterns,"  derived  principally 
from  the  letters  of  my  kinswoman,  the  grand-daughter  of  John  Pulling, 
whose  very  clear  and  accurate  accounts  of  the  matter  form  the  main 
source  of  the  foregoing  narrative.  She  also  writes  :  "  The  story  of  the 
lanterns  I  heard  from  my  earliest  childhood  from  my  mother  and  from 
my  step-graMiuother,  and  I  :;ever  supposed  there  coidd  be  a  do  ibt  of 
its  truth.  I  know  that  he  held  the  lantertis  on  that  night,  but  h'^vy  can 
I  prove  it  after  ull  these  years?  If  this  sexton,  Newmuu,  —  1  never 
heard  his  natne  before,  —  was  the  person,  and  was  arrested,  as  the  Recti ir 
of  the  church  says  he  was.  is  it  very  likely  he  could  escape,  and  remain 
in  Boston  ?  And  are  sextons,  as  a  class,  so  intelligent  and  so  reliable 
as  to  have  been  chosen  for  and  intrusted  v/ith  such  an  important  affair  ? 
My  grandfather  was  the  intimate  friend  oi  Paul  Revere;  and  because 
I  knew  this  I  inquired  of  Mr.  Longfellow,  a  few  years  since,  if  he  could 
tell  the  name  of  "  the  friend  "  in  the  poem.  The  answer  he  gave  the 
person  who  made  the  inquiry  for  me  was,  '  that  he  found  the  incident 
mentioned  in  a  magazine,  and  that  it  gave  him  the  idea  of  the  poem.' 
Is  it  probable  that  t\m  friend  was  the  sexton  ?  " 

I  can  add  my  own  testimony  to  my  kinswoman's  statement,  that 
I  distinctly  remember  hearing  my  mother  and  my  aunt,  both  of 
them  sisters  of  Mrs.  Annis  Pulling,  relating  the  same  story  in  our 
family,  and  saying  that  they  considered  his  "  showing  the  signals  on 
that  night,  at  the  peril  of  his  life,  as  one  of  the  most  daring  deeds  of 
the  Revolution  ;"  and  they  were  accustomed  to  speak  of  it,  with  justi- 
fiable pride,  as  characteristic  of  their  brother-in-law,  John  Pulling. 

Thus,  then,  we  have  the  evidence  of  family  tradition  that  John  Pul- 
ling was  the  friend  whom  Paul  Revere  "  called  upon  and  desired  to 
make  the  signals."    And,  if  the  probabilities  in  the  case  are  considered. 


I  think  they  will  fully  sustain  the  family  traditions.  To  bring  them 
all  forward  would  be  onl^'  to  repeat  the  questions  which  have  been  so 
well  put  by  my  kinswoman,  in  the  extracts  which  I  have  given  from 
ner  letters.  But,  as  I  wi.sh  to  submit  the  case  to  the  impartial  judg- 
ment of  any  one  who  can  discriminate  between  truth  and  error,  I  ask 
again,  Is  it  probable  that.  Paul  Revere  wr  uld  be  likely  to  comuiit  that 
part  of  hi°  enterprise,  on  which  every  thing  else  depended,  to  any  one 
but  a  tried  and  trusty  friend,  on  whose  prudence  and  vigilance,  as  well 
as  fidelity  and  courage,  he  knew  he  could  I'ely  ?  And  is  it  within  the 
bounds  of  probability  that  the  sexton  of  the  church  —  perhaps  no  bet- 
ter and  no  worse  than  sextons  usually  were  at  that  time — could  have 
been  such  a  friend  of  Paul  Revere,  and  also  an  associate  of  Warren, 
Hancock,  and  Adams,  acquainted  with  all  their  secrets  and  sharing  iu 
all  their  counsels  ? 

And  this  brings  mo  to. another  point,  which  appears  to  me  to  be 
conclusive  on  the  suliject.  In  Paul  Revere's  Narrative,*  he  gives  au 
account  of  about  thirty  persons,  mechanics  and  others,  "  who  had 
agreed  to  watch  the  moven?ents  of  British  soldiers  and  torics."  These 
patriots  met  at  the  Green  Dragon  tavern  in  Union  Street.  "  We  were 
so  careful,"  he  says,  "  that  our  meetings  should  be  kf  pt  secret,  that 
every  time  we  met  every  person  swore  upon  the  Ijible  that  they  would 
not  discover  any  of  our  transactions  but  to  Messrs.  Hancock,  Adams, 
Drs.  Warren,  Chiu'ch,  and  one  or  two  more  "  ;  that  is,  to  the  "ommii- 
tees  chosen  by  themselves,  to  which  both  Paul  Revere  acd  John 
Pulling  belonged. 

And  I  ask,  Is  there  a  man  living  in  Boston,  who,  with  all  the  knowl- 
edge we  have  of  the  truly  noble  character  of  Paul  Ruvere,  can  believe 
that  he  violated  his  solemn  oath  to  Almighty  God  by  intrusting  to 
the  sexton  of  the  church  that  secret,  which  he  had  '•  sworn  upon  the 
Bible  "  he  would  discover  to  no  one  except  to  the  committees,  "  War- 
ren, Hancock,  Adams,  and  one  or  two  more  "  ?  I  think  not ;  and  I 
maintain  that  this  point  alone,  if  duly  considered,  will  be  sufficient  to 
set  at  rest  the  question  about  the  "  signal  ianterns,"  and  that  tardy 
justice,  delayed  for  a  hundred  years,  sliall  at  length  be  rendered  to  ih°t 
name  and  services  of  a  man  every  way  worthy  to  stand  on  the  page 
of  '>ur  ea  ly  history,  as  he  had  stood  through  life,  side  by  side  with  his 
friend  Paul  Revere. 

in  t'>e  statements  which  have  now  been  made,  I  tru'^t  that  the  Rector 
of  Christ  Church  will  recognize  no  want  of  that  respect  and  regard 
which,  he  must  know,  I  have  always  entertained  for  him  ;  for,  although 
it  was  only  by  the  sanction  of  his  name  and  position  that  the  sexton 
story  could  obti?in  any  notoriety,  yet  1  aiu  sensible  that  no  fi«nlt  can 
be  imputed  to  liim  on  this  account,  as  it  was  not  possible  for  him  to 
be  acquainted  with  the  facts  which  have  now  for  the  first  time  been 
made  publio.  And  I  indulge  the  hope  that,  when  he  has  read  this 
communication,  he  will  be  ready  to  acknowledge  that  the  honor  of 
"  hanging   out  the   signals   in  Christ  Church,"  for   the   guidance  of 


*  As  quoted  in  Frothingham's  Life  of  Warren,  p.  441. 


9 


"  Major  Paul  Revere,"  on  the  night  of  the  18th  of  April,  a.d.  1775, 
belongs  rightfully  and  exclusively  to  his  friend  "  Captain  John  Pul- 
linr/'  merchant  of  Boston. 

John  Lee  Watson. 
Orange,  New  Jersey,  July,  a.d.  1876. 

Mr.  DsANE  continued  :  Since  the  publication  of  that  arti- 
cle, Dr.  Watson  has  heard  that  some  gentlemen  here,  who 
fully  concurred  in  his  opinion  as  to  the  agency  of  Robert 
Newman  in  displaying  the  lanterns,  had  some  doubts  as  to 
the  church  itself  from  which  the  lights  were  shown  ;  that  is 
to  say,  w^h ether  they  were  shown  from  the  steeple  of  Christ 
Church,  or  from  that  of  the  Old  North  Meeting-house,  inas- 
much as  Paul  Revere,  writing  in  1798,  and  Richard  Devens, 
writing  without  date,  but  evidently  some  years  after  the  oc- 
currence of  these  events,  both  say  "  North  Church."  Feel- 
ing conJBdent  that  Christ  Church  was  the  place  at  which  the 
signals  were  made,  and  being  desirous  that  those  having  any 
doubts  respecting  it  should  see  the  grounds  of  his  opinion, 
Dr.  Watson  has  written  me  a  letter  on  the  subject,  which  1 
now  lay  before  the  Society.     (See  page  13.) 

Dr.  Watson  seems  to  me  to  be  equally  happy  in  establish- 
ing his  last  proposition  ;  and  in  confirmation  of  his  position  that 
Christ  Church  was  known  at  that  period  and  called  "  the  North 
Church,"  certainly  some  time  before  Paul  Revere  wrote  his 
interesting  account  of  the  incident,  I  will  read  some  ex- 
tracts from  an  unpublished  correspondence  between  a  warden 
of  Christ  Church  in  Cambridge  and  Dr.  Walter,  Rector  in 
1792  of  Christ  Church  in  Boston ;  also  one  from  the  wardens 
of  Christ  Church  in  Boston  to  a  warden  of  Christ  Church  in 
Cambridge :  — 

I.  Jonathan  Simpson  to  Rev.  Dr.  Walter,  26  October,  1790:  "Dr. 
Winship  and  the  two  Wardens  of  the  North  Church  in  Boston  have 
just  left  me." 

II.  Rev.  Dr.  Walter  to  Jonathan  Simpson.  Shelburne,  N.S.,  5  i\o- 
vember,  1790 :  "  At  die  same  time  the  Proprietors  of  the  North  Church 
were  in  a  strange  dilemma." 

III.  Jonathan  Simpson  to  Dr.  Walter,  2  March,  1791  :  "I  am  ex- 
cessively mortified  to  hear  that  you  have  desir'd  the  Wardens  of  the 
North  Church  to  procure  you  a  house  in  their  neighbourhood."  "  Nor 
had  I  any  idea  when  I  pa^'tially  consented  to  an  union  with  the  North 
Church."  "  All  the  world  (except  the  North  Church  people)  consider 
you  as  engaged  to  us,  nor  must  you  blanie  us  if  we  cannot  consent  to  your 
residing  with  the  North  people."  "  I  am  sorry  that  the  North  Church 
take  an  undue  advantage  of  our  generosity  in  admitting  them  to  an 
v.nion  with  us.  If  you  give  up  your  residence  among  us,  it  is  my 
opinion  that  our  Church  will  not  be  -connected  with  the  North  Church." 


10 


"  I  see  now  I  went  too  far  in  saying  that  we  were  willing  to  be  con- 
nected with  the  North  Church  at  all." 

IV.  James  Sherman  and  Charles  Williams,  Church.  Wardens.  Bos- 
ton, 21  March,  1791 :  "  We  this  day  received  yours  of  5  March  instant, 
directed  to  the  Wardens  of  the  North  Church,  Boston." 

V.  Dr.  Walter  to  Jonathan  Simpson.  Shelburne,  N.S.,  5  April,  1791 : 
"  The  two  Churches  of  Cambridge  and  Boston  North  being  united 
under  me  with  an  assistant."  "  I  have  only  some  fears  in  my  own 
mind  respecting  the  gentlemen  of  the  North." 

But  it  has  })een  said  that,  altliough  Clirist  Church  may  have 
been  popularly  called  "  the  North  Church "  after  the  old 
North  Meeting-house  was  taken  down,  yet  it  was  never  so 
ca^^ed  while  the  latter  was  standing. 

This  is  a  mistake,  as  I  will  now  proceed  to  show. 

The  Rev.  Mather  Byles,  Jr.,  while  pastor  of  the  First  Church 
in  New  London,  became  an  Episcopalian,  and  received  in 
1768  a  call  to  Christ  Church,  in  Boston,  whose  rector,  Dr. 
Cutler,  had  died  three  years  before.  His  acceptance  created 
considerable  dissatisfaction  in  the  New  London  parish,  and 
resulted  in  a  conference  between  the  pastor  and  people,  an 
account  of  which  was  published  that  year,  in  a  pamphlet  of 
considerable  interest.* 

On  the  reverse  of  its  title-page,  the  writer  says,  "  As  the 
Public  are  so  very  desirous  of  knowing  the  Reasons  of  Mr. 
Byles's  leaving  the  Church  of  Christ,  in  New  London,  where 
he  was  so  happily  settled  to  all  Appearance,  in  so  unexpected 
a  departure  for  13oston,  without  Time  or  Inclination  of  seeing 
or  bidding  any  of  his  best  Friends  farewell ;  will  let  them 
know  it  is  in  Consequence  of  an  Invitation  of  the  Wardens, 
Vestry,  &c.,  of  the  Episcopal  North  Church,  Boston  :  which 
he  has  thought  fit  to  accept,"  &c.  Then  fellows  the  account 
of  the  conference,  near  the  beginning  of  which  the  minister 
says,  "  I  will  now  communicate  to  you  a  letter  I  received 
from  the  wardens  and  vestry  of  the  north  church,  in  Br-ston, 
dated  8th  of  March,"  «fec.  (p.  3).  "  And  since  that  have  re- 
ceived a  line  from  brother  Walter,  wherein  he  advises  me  : 
*  This  day,  at  a  meeting  of  the  wardens  and  vestry  of  the 
north  churchy  in  Boston,  they  have  come  to  the  determina- 
tion of  sending  for  you  to  Boston,'  "  &c.  (p.  4). 

Mr.  Tyles's  acceptance  of  the  call  to  Christ  Church  made 


*  A  P  ate  between  the  Rev'd  Mr.  Byles,  tlie  Pastor  of  the  First  Church,  in 
New  Loiin.in,  and  the  brethren  of  that  Church,  held  at  tlie  meeting-house,  pre- 
vious to  iiis  leaving  said  Society,  containing  the  substance  or  heads  of  the  Dis- 
course which  then  passed.  As  also  a  specimen  of  one  of  the  many  volumes 
which  Mr.  Bi/Us  is  supposed  to  have  been  convinced  by,  &c.  By  A.  Z.,  Esq. 
See  84th  chap,  of  Ezekiel.  To  which  are  added  some  remarks.  iVieu;  London : 
Printed  in  the  year  1768.     Sold  at  Draper's  prlnting-offlce,  Boston. 


11 


in 
je- 


it  necessary  that  he  should  go  to  England,  to  receive  ordi- 
nation ;  and  he  accordingly  went,  bearing  a  letter  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Society  for  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  &c., 
dated  "  Providence,  5th  May,  1768,','  of  which  the  follov/ing 
is  an.  extract :  "  Rev.  Sir,  —  The  bearer  hereof  is  Mr,  Byles, 
a  New  England  gentleman,  was  bred  a  Dissenter ;  his  Father 
the  Doctor  still  a  Pastor  in  Boston.  .  .  He  is  now  going  to 
England  for  Episcopal  Ordination,  under  I  doubt  not  a  full 
and  clear  Conviction  of  its  superiority.  He  has  accepted  an 
Invitation  from  the  North  Church  in  Boston  where  the  late 
Dr,  Cutler  was  their  long  and  faithful  Pastor,"  ...  * 

"  J.  Graves." 

Mr.  Byles  continued  to  be  the  Rector  of  this  church  till 
1775,  when  the  troubles  of  the  Revolutionary  war  intervening, 
and  his  parishioners  being  divided  in  political  sentiment,  the 
church  was  closed.     (Dr.  Burroughs's  Hist.  Address,  p.  24.^ 

Paul  Revere,  writing  to  Dr.  Belknap,  on  the  Lexington  and 
Concord  affair,  in  1798,  says  that  he  had  agreed  with  Colonel 
Conant  and  some  others  of  Charlestown,  ihe  Sunday  evening 
before  («.e.,  two  days  before  the  18th  of  April),  "that  if  the 
British  went  out  by  water  we  would  show  two  lanterns  in  the 
North  Church  steeple,  and  if  by  land  one,  as  a  signal,  for  we 
were  apprehensive  it  would  be  difficult  to  cross  the  Charles 
River  or  get  over  Boston  Neck."  In  saying  "  North  Church," 
Revere  would  be  likely  to  use  a  name  which  his  readers,  at 
the  time  he  wrote,  understood;  and  we  have  just  seen,  in  the 
correspondence  above  cited,  in  1790  and  1791,  that  by  "  the 
North  Church  "  Christ  Church  was  intended.  We  have  also 
seen  that  by  that  name  Christ  Church  was  known  just  pre- 
vious to  the  time  the  affair  of  the  lanterns  took  place.  If 
Revere  had  meant  to  describe  or  refer  to  the  "  Old  North 
Meeting-house,"  which  had  stood  in  North  Square,  and  had 
been  destroyed  by  the  British  during  the  siege,  whatever 
name  that  old  structure  once  bore,  would  he  not  have  said  so  ? 

I  now  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  members  to  Price's  large 
v.iap  of  Boston,  dated  1743,  on  which  all  the  churches  of 
Boston  are  delineated.  "Christ  Church''  is  shown  to  have 
a  very  tall  steeple,  rising  from  a  high  tower ;  while  the  "  Old 
North  Meeting,"  as  the  inscription  reads  at  the  bottom 
of  the  map,  has  only  a  low  tower  or  belfry,  terminating  ab- 
ruptly in  a  point.  Devens  says  the  signal  "  was  a  Ian  thorn 
hung  out  in  the  upper  ivindow  of  the  tower  of  N.  Ch. 
towards  Charlestown."  Now  the  Old  North  Meeting-hoase 
had  no  "  upper  window  "  answering  to  this  description.     It 


Perry's  Hist.  Coll.  relating  to  the  Am.  Col.  Church,  III.  836. 


12 


had  simply  one  window  (if  it  may  be  so  called),  —  an  opening 
at  the  place  where  a  bell  may  have  hung.  Christ  Church, 
on  the  contrary,  had  both  an  upper  and  a  lower  window  in  its 
tower,  above  which  its  spire  rose.  The  language  of  Devens, 
and  also  of  Revere,  —  the  only  authorities  hitherto  relied 
on,  —  if  carefully  considered,  clearly  sustain  the  view  advo- 
cated by  Dr.  Watson.  Moreover,  the  position  of  Christ 
Church,  elevated,  just  opposite  Charlesto\7n,  was  a  fit  place 
from  which  such  signals  could  be  seen.  Not  so,  it  is  l)elieved, 
with  the  Old  North  Meeting-house,  as  well  from  its  location, 
surrounded  by  buildings,  as  from  its  having  no  tower  or 
steeple  or  spire,  properly  so  called. 

A  writer  of  bad  verses  (happily  unpublished),  residing  in 
the  vicinity  of  Boston,  under  date  of  "  March  15,  1795," 
three  years  before  Paul  Revere  wrote  his  letter  to  Dr.  Bel- 
knap, and  fifty-four  years  before  Richard  Devens's  memo- 
randum was  published  by  Mr.  Frothingham,  thus  commences 
his  poem,  entitled  '•  Story  of  the  Battle  of  Concord  and 
Lexington,  and  Revere's  Ride,  twenty''  years  ago"  :  —  * 

"  He  spared  neither  horse,  nor  whip,  nor  spur, 
As  he  galloped  through  mud  and  mire  ; 
He  thought  of  naught  hut  liberty, 
And  the  lanterns  that  hung  from  the  spire." 

If  not  a  uniform  rule,  certainly  the  general  custom  seems 
to  have  been,  as  Dr.  Watson  shows,  to  denominate  the  places 
of  worship  of  Dissenters  as  "  meeting-houses."  On  Price's 
editions  of  Bonner's  map  of  Boston,  1743  and  1769,  copies  of 
each  of  which  are  in  my  own  possession,  we  have  the  follow- 
ing marginal  references  to  the  body  of  the  map :  "  The  Old 
Meeting,  Old  North  M.,  Old  South  M.,  Anabaptist  M.,  King's 
Chapel,  Brattle  St.  M.,  Quakers'  M.,  New  North  M.,  New 
South  M.,  Frencli  M.,  New  No.  Brick  M.,  Christ  Church, 
Irish  Meeting-house,  Hollis  Street  Meeting,  Trinity  Church, 
Lynds  Street  Meeting."  (Many  of  these  places  of  worship  on 
Bonner's  original  map,  1722,  were  designated  as  "  churches  " ; 
but  that  name  was  afterwards  carefully  erased,  except  where 
it  was  applied  to  Episcopal  churches.) 

Religious  bodies  known  as  "  churches,"  a  name  dear  to  our 
fathers,  were  connected  with  every  Dissenting,  or  what  we 
now  call  Orthodox,  religious  society  ;  comprehending  a  select 
bod3'^  of  the  "saints,"  the  visible  Church.  To  this  body  the 
minister   sustained   peculiarly  close   relations.      The  whole 

*  These  verses  were  written  on  some  half-dozen  leaves  of  an  old  folio  ac- 
count-book, dated  as  above,  and  signed  "  Eb.  Stiles."  The  detached  leaves 
were  presented  to  tlie  Cabinet  of  this  Society  last  year. 


18 


society,  in  fact,  existed  for  the  Church,  and  was  guided  and 
governed  by  the  Church  which  gave  its  name,  so  to  speak, 
to  the  whole  worshipping  assembly.  To  speak,  therefore,  of 
Dr.  Lathrop's  Church  was  to  speak  of  his  worshipping  as- 
sembly, not  his  meeting-house,  or  place  of  worship.  The 
*•  Old  North  Church,"  as  a  religious  body,  worshipped  in  the 
"  Old  North  Meeting-house."  The  location  of  these  Boston 
"  churches  "  may  be  seen  in  Fleet's  Register,  and  other  sta- 
tistical books  of  the  time. 

Misapprehensions  and  errors  arise  by  not  paying  sufficient 
attention  to  the  meaning  of  words  and  terms  as  they  are  found 
recorded  in  old  books.  When  the  records  of  the  "  Old  North 
Church "  are  spoken  of,  or  when  it  is  said  that  the  "  Old 
North  Church  "  had  owned  a  piece  of  land  or  other  property, 
it  should  be  known  that  the  religious  association,  either  the 
church  or  the  society,  is  intended,  and  not  the  meeting-house,' 
which  could  not  properly  be  said  to  keep  records  or  to  hold 
property.     Dr.  Watson's  letter  to  me  here  follows :  — 

Orange,  New  Jersey,  October  21st,  a.d.  1876. 

My  dear  Sm,  —  Since  the  publication  of  my  letter  to  the  editors 
of  the  "  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,"  I  have  received  a  great  many  letters 
from  persons  interested  in  the  matter,  all  of  which,  with  scarcely  an 
exception,  express  the  belief  of  the  writers  that  "  John  Pulling  was  the 
man  who  showed  the  lights  for  Paul  Revere  on  the  night  of  the  18th 
of  April,  1775";  and  none  of  them  intimate  any  doubts  of  Christ 
Church  being  the  place  where  they  were  shown. 

I  have  learned,  however,  from  a  friend  that  one  or  two  gentlemen, 
especially  conversant  with  the  history  of  those  times,  "  have  the  im- 
pression that  it  was  "  from  the  '  Old  North  Meeting-house,'  not  from 
*  Christ  Church,'  that  the  signals  were  put  out."  Having  great  defer- 
ence for  the  opinions  of  those  gentlemen,  and  being  desirous  of  remov- 
ing their  doubts,  I  trust  to  your  kindness  to  excuse  the  liberty  I  take 
in  addressing  you,  as  one  interested  in  the  subject,  and  asking  you  to 
do  me  the  favor  of  bringing  to  the  notice  of  those  gentlemen,  as  you 
may  have  opportunity,  the  following  reasons  for  my  belief  that  the 
"  steeple  of  Christ  Church  "  was  the  place  where  the  lights  were  shown 
by  John  Pulling. 

As  far  as  I  am  informed,  the  only  objections  to  this  statement,  of 
any  importance,  are,  first,  that  Richard  Devens,  a  well-known  patriot 
of  that  day,  in  a  letter  without  date,  but  written  probably  in  1775  or 
6,  speaks  of  "  the  lights  being  shown  from  N.  C'h.,"  —  by  which  it  is 
supposed  he  meant  "  North  Church  " ;  and,  second,  that  Paul  Revere, 
in  his  Narrative,  written  in  the  year  1798,  twenty-three  years  after  the 
event,  makes  use  of  the  same  term,  the  "  North  Church " ;  and  it  is 
claimed  that,  in  both  these  instances,  the  words  "  North  Church  "  mean 
"  North  Meeting-house." 

In  reply  to  these  objections,  I  beg  leave  to  state  the  well-known 


r 


14 


fact  that  the  Puritan  forefathers  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  ministers 
and  writers  of  their  generation  generally,  were  very  scrupulous  about 
applying  the  word  "  Church  "  to  their  "  places  of  worship,"  and  used 
it,  princifially,  to  designate  the  "  communion  of  the  society  to  which 
they  belonged,"  as  distinguished  from  the  "  non-communicating  parts 
of  the  congregation  "  ;  both  together  forming  "  the  Church  and  Congre- 
gation worshipping  in  the  North  or  South  JVIeeting-houiJe."  And  so 
tenacious  were  they  of  this  phraseology,  that,  if  a  few  solitary  instances 
are  found  to  the  contrary,  they  ought  to  be  considered  as  the  exceptions, 
which  prove  the  general  rule.  Most  persons  are  so  well  acquainted 
with  this  familiar  fact,  that  I  cannot  but  think  it  unnecessary  to  say 
any  thing  more  about  it,  except  to  notice  some  instances  which  occur 
in  the  few  books  within  my  reach.  In  "The  Siege  of  Hoston  "  and 
"The  Life  of  Joseph  Warren,"  by  Mr.  Frothingham,  it  will  be  found, 
in  almost  every  instance,  that  where  the  buildings  are  spoken  of,  and 
the  words  of  the  original  writers  are  preserved,  it  is  "Meeting-house" 
which  is  used ;  though  often  changed,  or  explained  by  the  historian, 
to  mean  "  Church."  I  may  also  refer  to  Dr.  Belknap's  writings,  and 
particularly  to  the  account  of  his  visit  to  the  camp  in  Cambridge, 
Oct.  22,  177(5,  where  he  speaks  of  "preaching  in  tlie  Meeting-house"; 
and  to  the  Diary  of  Dr.  Sewall,  the  minister  of  the  "  Old  South  Meet- 
ing-house," as  he  always  called  it ;  and  to  Judge  Sewall's  Journal ; 
and  to  Snow's  History  of  Boston ;  and  to  Greenwood's  "  History  of 
King's  Chapel  "  ;  and  to  various  articles  in  the  Massachusetts  Histor- 
ical Collections  ;  the  "Journal  of  Deacon  Newell;"  "The  Diary  of 
Ezekiel  Price ;  "  and  indeed,  generally,  to  the  journals  and  newspa- 
pers of  those  days.  In  a  word,  if  one  had  courage  and  patience  enough 
to  examine  the  venerable  and  dusty  piles  of  religious  pamphlets,  which 
have  accumulated  in  the  closets  and  upper  rooms  of  many  of  our  large 
libraries,  and  to  select  from  them  the  "  dedication  sermons,"  and  other 
writings  of  the  "  pious  and  pains-full "  preachers  of  those  times,  he 
would  lind,  probably,  more  than  a  thousand  instances  of  the  use  of  the 
word  "  Meeting-house  "  to  designate  the  places  of  worship  of  their  own 
or  kindred  denominations,  and  scarcely  one  of  the  word  "  Church  " 
being  applied  to  any  other  than  those  of  the  Episcopal,  or  Church  of 
England  congregations.  And,  if  he  wanted  additional  proof  of  this, 
he  might  find  it,  perhaps,  in  that  humble  elevation  in  Roxbury, 
which  they  called  "Meeting-house  Hill,"  because  they  had  built  a 
place  of  worship  there  ;  which  name,  I  believe,  still  remains,  a  perpet- 
ual memorial  of  the  peculiar  phraseology  of  our  forefathers,  in  their 
relijiious  nomenclature.  From  these  and  other  considerations,  and 
from  the  testimony  of  elderly  persons  to  the  same  effect,  I  think  I  am 
justified  in  believing  that  the  writers  of  those  times,  and  people  in 
general,  when  they  spoke  of  the  congregational  places  of  worship, 
called  them  "  Meeting-houses  " ;  and  that  if  Devens  and  Revere  had 
meant  the  "  North  Meeting-house  "  as  the  place  where  the  lights  were 
shown,  they  would  have  so  written  it. 

In  the  next  place,  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact,  that  the 
custom  of  calling  "  Christ  Church  "  the  "  North  Church  "  began  in  pre- 
Revolutionary  times,  and  prevailed  very  generally  in  the  times  of 


15 


Devens  and  Revere.  This  custom  arose  from  Christ  Church  being 
the  most  northerly  church  in  Boston,  and  having  a  very  lofty  steeple,  — 
at  that  time  191  feet  in  height,  and  after  the  gale  in  1804  reduced  to  its 
present  height,  175  feet,  —  which  formed  the  most  couspicuous  land- 
mark for  vessels  entering  the  harbor,  and  thence  being  well  known, 
especially  among  the  merchants  and  seafaring  men,  and  generally 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  North  End,  as  the  "  North  Church."  I 
have  an  impression,  also,  that  it  was  so  designated  in  the  printed  direc- 
tions to  pilots  and  masters  of  vessels  entering  the  harbor.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Greenwood,  in  his  "Hirtory  of  King's  Chapel,"  —  when  giving 
an  account  of  the  "  inc"ease  of  P^piscopacy  in  Massachusetts,  in  the 
year  1723,"  says  :  "  Anu  thus  Dr.  Cutler  "  —  who  had  been  a  Congrega- 
tionalist,  and  President  of  Yale  College  —  "became  the  first  Rector  of 
the  North,  or  Christ  Church."  I  have  a  letter  from  a  lady  whose 
mother  was  a  member  of  Christ  Church  in  those  times,  who  says  "  that, 
when  young,  she  seldom  heard  it  called  by  any  other  name  than  the 
North  Church ;  and  that  she  was  twelve  years  old  before  she  ever  heard 
a  Meeting-house  called  a  Church,  and  then  it  was  by  a  person  from 
the  South,  and  not  a  New-Englander."  I  have  also  lately  been  in- 
formed that  the  descendants  of  John  PuUing's  second  wife  say  of  her, 
"  that  she  always  called  Christ  Church  the  North  Church,"  and  when- 
ever she  told  her  story  of  the  lanterns,  which  she  was  fond  of  repeat- 
ing, said  "  that  it  was  from  the  steeple  of  that  church  that  they  were 
shown."  And  this  custom  continued  to  a  very  late  period,  and,  pos- 
sibly, even  now  continues.  And,  in  this  connection,  I  may  be  permitted 
to  add  the  testimony  of  my  own  experience,  —  now,  of  three-quarters  of 
a  century,  —  for,  though  brought  up  in  Trinity  Church,  I  had  friends 
and  acquaintances  in  Christ  Church,  with  whom  I  associated, — and  in 
my  boyhood  I  scai'cely  knew  that  that  church  had  any  other  name  than 
the  North  Church.  In  later  years,  in  my  intimacy  with  a  very  dear 
friend,  who  was  then  the  Rect.^r  of  that  church,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Croswell, 
when  conversing  together  about  the  events  of  its  former  days,  we  were 
very  much  in  the  habit  of  calling  it  the  Old  North  Church ;  and  I  have 
now  before  me  letters  from  the  same  friend,  after  he  left  Boston,  in 
which  he  speaks  of  it,  in  affectionate  terms,  as  "  the  dear  Old  North  " ; 
and  in  the  "  Memoirs "  of  his  life,  written  by  his  father,  there  are 
letters  and  pieces  of  poetry,  dated  from  the  "  Cloisters  of  the  Old 
North  Church."  I  conclude,  from  these  and  otfcer  circumstances  that 
might  be  mentioned,  that  when  Richard  Devens  wrote  "  N.  C'h.,"  he 
meant  "  North  Church  "  or  "  Christ  Church,"  as  the  place  where  the 
signals  were  shown. 

And  all  this  applies  to  Paul  Revere's  account,  with  still  greater 
force.  For,  as  is  well  known,  the  North  Meeting-house  was  destroyed 
by  the  British  in  the  year  1776;  and  afterward,  "as  the  Old  North 
Society  had  lost  their  Meeting-house,  and  the  New  Brick  Society  had 
lost  their  minister,  the  two  congregations  united,  and  worshipped  to- 
gether," in  the  building  called  the  New  Brick  Meeting-house.  But 
Revere  wrote  his  Narrative  in  the  year  1798  ;  and  it  is  scarcely  proba- 
ble that,  in  that  account,  he  would  have  referred  his  readers  to  a  build- 
ing which,  twenty -three  years  before,  had  been  "  entirely  demolished  and 
consumed  for  fuel " ;  at  least,  without  some  explanation.  And  therefore 


MP 

i.i 


'I 


n  ' 


16 


;;  / 


I  conclude,  also,  that  when  Paul  Revere  wrote  "  North  Church,"  he 
meant  "  Christ  Church,"  and  called  it  by  the  name  which  was  most 
familiar  to  himself  and  his  readers. 

Although  it  may  be  thought  that  enough  has  been  said  to  resolve  all 
doubts,  yet  I  may  be  allowed  to  observe  that  all  the  probabilities  in  the 
case  seem  to  be  decisive  in  favor  of  Christ  Church  as  the  place.  It 
appears  from  the  records  of  that  chur(!h,  as  quoted  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Eaton,  in  his  historical  account,  in  1823,  that  "  the  Rector,  the  Rev. 
Mather  Byles,  Ji-.,  continued  his  services  till  April,  1775,  and  then 
went  to  Portsmouth,  N.II. ";  and,  also,  that  "from  this  time  the 
church  was  closed  till  August,  1778."  This,  of  course,  would  render 
it  easy  for  Pulling  —  a  vestryman,  having  authority  —  to  have  entire 
control  of  the  building,  and  go  in  and  out,  and  do  as  he  pleased,  with- 
out interruption.  Besides  that,  the  steeple  of  Christ  Church  was  the 
very  best  place  for  hanging  the  lanterns,  so  that  the  lights  could  be 
seen  by  Conant  on  the  beach  in  Charlestown,  and  also  be  concealed 
from  the  British,  who  were,  mainly,  in  an  opposite  direction.  Now, 
to  compare  these  circumstances  with  those  of  the  Meeting-house.  As 
far  as  can  be  ascertained  from  any  and  every  source,  it  was  a  low 
wooden  building,  with  a  small  oj)eu  belfry,  in  North  Square,  immedi- 
ately opposite  tlie  soldiers'  barracks,  where  the  troops  were  then  mus- 
tered, with  sentinels  at  every  corner  and  outlet.  I  cannot  think  there 
is  the  least  probability  that  Pulling  would  choose  such  a  place,  where 
he  would  have  found  it  difficult  to  enter  without  being  discovered ;  or, 
if  he  succeeded  in  entering,  and  showing  the  lights,  where  they  would 
have  been  immediately  seen  by  the  troops,  and  where  they  could  not 
possibly  be  seen  by  Conant  on  the  beach  in  Charlestown.  It  is  true 
that  all  the  streets  of  the  North  End  were  full  of  danger  that  night, 
but  it  is  plain  that  the  North  Square  was  the  most  dangerous  of  all ; 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  North  Meeting-house,  in  the  North  Square, 
was  the  very  last  jilace  that  Paul  Revere  and  John  Pulling  —  who  were 
not  deficient  in  prudence  and  discretion  —  would  have  been  likely  to 
choose  for  their  operations  on  that  eventful  night. 

There  is  much  more  of  this  kind  of  evidence  which  might  be  brought 
forward  ;  but  I  will  only  add,  at  present,  that  some  weight  should  be 
given  to  the  fact  that  the  two  traditions,  though  disagreeing  as  to  the 
man,  yet  concur  in  representing  Christ  Church  as  the  place  ;  and  that 
it  was  the  sexton  of  Christ  Church  who  was  suspected  and  arrested, 
"  because  the  lights  were  shown  from  the  steeple  of  that  building." 

And  now,  sir,  I  cannot  but  think  that  these  considerations  will  be 
sufficient  to  remove  the  doubts  which  may  have  arisen  in  the  minds  of 
others  ;  and  —  in  the  absence  of  any  evidence  to  the  contrary,  or  in 
favor  of  any  other  place  —  to  incline  them  to  believe  that  the  "  steeple 
of  Christ  Church  "  was  the  place  where  John  Pulling  "  showed  the 
lights,"  at  the  request  of  his  friend  Paul  Revere. 

But,  whatever  may  be  the  result,  I  feel  well  assured  that  these  views 
will  receive  impartial  consideration  ;  and  am,  sir, 
Very  respectfully. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

John  Lee  Watson. 
Charles  Deane,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  &c.,  &c. 


'    M 


